The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have updated public health recommendations on the use of additional booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines this summer and in the upcoming autumn and winter seasons.

The updated recommendations come amid increasing rates of COVID-19 reporting and rates of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and occupancy in several countries, as reflected in the ECDC Country Overview Report (Country overview report: week 26 2022 (europa.eu), and in the context of the emergence of the Omicron lineages BA.4 and BA.5. These data signal that a new COVID-19 wave is ramping up across the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA).

This statement is based on the assessment of current epidemiological trends and available scientific evidence. As such, it is preliminary and subject to change as more data become available.

National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) will ultimately make national decisions on the use of COVID-19 vaccines, taking into account the epidemiological situation in their countries.